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2:10 PM ET, August 6, 2010

Top Items:

Om Malik / GigaOM:

Not a Joke: An Apple App Patent (Pic) That Looks Like an Actual App Selling on the App Store — Updated at 8.15:: Apple apparently has started filing patents for certain applications. And one of them looks exactly like an actual app — Where To — that has been available on the iTunes app store for a long time.

Discussion: 9 to 5 Mac, venomous porridge, Engadget, Technovia, TUAW, Gizmodo, CrunchGear, Gizmodo Australia and The Huffington Post, Thanks:om

Devindra Hardawar / VentureBeat:

Controversy erupts over Apple software patent “copying” existing app's home screen — Today's Apple controversy: Apparently, a recent mobile app patent filed by Apple is blatantly copying the home screen of an existing application — the local search app Where To — reports GigaOm.

Ortwin Gentz / The FutureBlog:

The patent case we haven't called — Recently, we stumbled across a patent application that pricked up our ears. Apparently, Apple starts patenting mobile app ideas—and one of those ideas is (partly) ours. — Now some folks argued we might have a deal in place with Apple. I can assure you: we don't.

Discussion: iLounge, Cult of Mac, Tech Eye and The Next Web

Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
Apple Patent Diagrams Send The Wrong Message To Developers

Discussion: The FutureBlog, MacRumors, me & her, TiPb, venomous porridge, 9 to 5 Mac, Tnooz and Macworld

David Glazer / The Official Google Blog:

Google and Slide: building a more social web — We're excited to announce we've acquired Slide, a social technology company with an extensive history of building new ways for people to connect with others across numerous platforms online. — For Google, the web is about people …

Discussion: Between the Lines Blog, Computerworld, CNET News, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, ReadWriteWeb, Yahoo! News and Erictric

Sarah Lacy / TechCrunch:
Here's What Everybody Made From The Slide Sale

Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider, A VC, Joystiq, Mashable! and MTV Multiplayer

Dean Goodman / Reuters:

Beatles, iTunes deal still at impasse — Yoko Ono — * Widow unveils John Lennon commemorative projects — Don't hold your breath waiting for Beatles songs to go on sale at iTunes or other online retailers, Yoko Ono said on Thursday. — The Fab Four have long resisted the allure of digital downloads …

Discussion: The Register, CNET News, Tech Eye, Tech Trader Daily, Engadget, MacRumors, MediaMemo, Daring Fireball, AppleInsider, Network World, 9 to 5 Mac, The Loop, I4U News, CrunchGear and Fortune

Mark Gurman / 9 to 5 Mac:

Apple opens “Try Before You Buy” section in App Store, Step to fight app piracy — Apple seems to be adding to and changing up their App Store's featured sections quite frequently. Today Apple added a new section dedicated to promoting free applications on the App Store.

Gizmodo:
Apple Should Enable 24-Hour Trials for All Paid Apps

Discussion: TUAW

Brandon Miniman / pocketnow.com:

New ASUS Windows Phone 7 Device Appears in Pakistan — We don't have much information on this (yet) but it looks like an ASUS device running on Windows Phone 7 has been spotted in Pakistan. Unlike the LG Panther and Samsung Taylor devices that are only intended to be development devices …

Oleoleolson / AlterNet Blogs:

Massive Censorship Of Digg Uncovered — A group of influential conservative members of the behemoth social media site Digg.com have just been caught red-handed in a widespread campaign of censorship, having multiple accounts, upvote padding, and deliberately trying to ban progressives.

Discussion: CNET News, ABCNEWS, Computerworld, Inquirer, Fast Company, Softpedia News, Black Web 2.0, Switched, The Next Web, Gawker, ReadWriteWeb and V3.co.uk

Josh Halliday / Guardian:
Digg investigates claims of conservative ‘censorship’

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Kevin Michaluk / CrackBerry.com blogs:

BlackBerry Torch 9800 Teardown Photos and Video of Slider Mechanism in Action! — Tear down posts of a new smartphone don't normally happen until the new device is available for commercial purchase and somebody is crazy enough to sacrifice it to the tech gods.

Discussion: blogs.ft.com, PC World, Boy Genius Report, IntoMobile, SlashGear, Softpedia News, Pocket-lint, Engadget, paidContent, Phones Review, Gadget Lab, Smartphones … and TiPb

Kelvin Soh / Reuters:

Apple in talks to buy China's Handseeing — (Reuters) - Apple Inc is in takeover talks with Chinese software maker Handseeing, an executive of the Chinese company said on Friday. — The deal would be the iPhone maker's first major acquisition in the country.

Jack Purcher / Patently Apple:

Apple Introduces us to the Smart Bike — On August 5, 2010, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals various concepts behind a newly advanced Smart Bicycle System in development. The premise is rather like Apple's Nike + iPod system for runners except for cyclists.

Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider, MacRumors, SlashGear, AppleInsider, Gizmodo, CrunchGear, Ubergizmo, TUAW, ReadWriteWeb and 9 to 5 Mac, Thanks:atul

Wall Street Journal:

Google Loses Discrimination Ruling — The California Supreme Court ruled that an age-discrimination lawsuit filed against Google Inc. should proceed to trial, potentially paving the way for more lawsuits that previously were blocked under a theory that crude and possibly discriminatory workplace comments were merely “stray remarks.”

Discussion: The Register, Search Engine Land, Law Blog and CNET News

Chris Davies / SlashGear:

Kinect patent detailed; American Sign Language supported — The patent for Microsoft's Kinect console has been unearthed, describing the “gesture keyboarding” system that's tracked by the special PrimeSense-developed depth camera. Kinect builds a dynamic wireframe representation - or …

Discussion: Edge Magazine and Gizmodo

Anand Srinivasan / Go Rumors:
How Microsoft Kinect Works

Discussion: Gizmodo, Engadget, The Next Web, Electronista, Geek.com and Technologizer

Dan Goodin / The Register:

Private browsing modes in four biggest browsers often fail — You've been warned — Features in the four major browsers designed to cloak users' browser history often don't work as billed, according to a research paper that warns that users may get a false sense of security when using the built-in privacy settings.

Discussion: BBC, Inquirer, CrunchGear, V3.co.uk and Voices on All Things Digital

John Siracusa / Ars Technica:

Can you buy me now? Apple and the war for the mobile market — The short history of the computer industry is dominated by two well-known stories of business triumph and defeat. The first is the story of how mainframe makers failed to take the personal computer seriously until it was too late.

Discussion: Daring Fireball and MacDailyNews

Paul Carr / TechCrunch:

Rdio Gaga: How Spotify's Inferior Rival Is Playing America Like A Violin — Poor old Spotify. Less than a week after Billboard magazine reported that the music-on-demand service had “rebooted” its negotiations with US labels, rival service Rdio has just opened its doors in both the US and Canada …

Discussion: Newsome.Org

MG Siegler / TechCrunch:

Twitter's Social Graph Is About To Get Pumped Up. “Who To Follow” Is Social Steroids — Last week, Twitter started testing out a “Who to follow” feature. Basically, it's a recommendation engine for who you should follow, similar to ones that Facebook and others use.

Discussion: Stowe Boyd, SocialTimes.com, Fast Company and broadstuff

Nick O'Neill / All Facebook:

Quora Opens Up To Search Engines As Facebook Looms — Quora is pushing forward with the continued opening of their service as Facebook Questions continues through a relatively rocky start. Given that it has become relatively obvious that Facebook Questions is nothing short of a direct attack against Quora …

Discussion: GigaOM, The Next Web, Softpedia News and ReadWriteWeb

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